The present invention relates to an improved percussive musical instrument and more particularly relates to an improvement in construction of a percussive musical instrument such as a wood block which has at least one striking head to be struck by a striker such as a stick and a resonator chamber for resonating vibrations generated at the striking head.
One typical conventional percussive musical instrument of the above-described type includes a rectangular main block and a pair of flat, shallow recesses formed in opposite faces of the main block and opening sideways. The recesses are covered with flat plates to form resonator chambers.
When the central section or a section close to the edge of one cover plate is struck by a stick, the cover plate vibrates. Sound waves generated by the vibration are selected and amplified in the resonator chamber for emanation of musical tones having tonal pitches and tone colors inherent to that musical instrument. Sometimes, the edge itself is struck to create a special musical effect.
To generate beautiful musical tones, it is important to optionally strike the striking head to generate optimum vibrations.
To this end, a stick is struck down on the cover plate. It is sometimes difficult however to strike exactly the intended section of the cover plate. For example, when it is intended to strike the edge of the cover plate, the central section may unexpectedly be struck. Such irregular striking causes irregular warping of the cover plate from time to time and, as a consequence, stable generation of vibrations cannot be assured. Such irregular vibrations of the cover plate tends to generate musical tones different than those intended.
In addition, when the edge of the cover plate is to be struck, the angle of the striker, i.e. the stick, with respect to the edge of the cover plate greatly influences the resulting vibration. When this angle is kept within a certain limit, the angle has no significant influence on the vibrations. When the angle exceeds this limit, however, the mode of vibration changes greatly. As a result, the intended effect cannot be obtained even when the edge is struck on purpose if the angle of striking is inadequate. It is in general very difficult for ordinary players to master the idea of this optimum angle of striking which usually differs from instrument to instrument.